2014 photo of an illegal fly tip site alongside the Thames estuary at Purfleet in Essex. Credit: PA

Local authorities in England spent an estimated £50 million clearing up illegally dumped waste in 2014/15, figures released by the government claim.

The statistics, released today by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, also show that around 900,000 incidents were dealt with in the same period, an increase in fly-tipping of 5.6% on 2013/14.

The costs of clearing up illegally dumped waste, two thirds of which was household rubbish, in places such as streets, alleyways and council land was nearly £50 million, a rise of almost £5 million on the year before.

It is the second rise in fly-tipping incidents in as many years, after years of the problem declining.